Expert Advice
5 Things That Make You Stand Out in an Interview – Reflections from Behind the Interview Table
Recently, I had the privilege of facilitating a series of CEO interviews, a process that never fails to inspire and
April 1, 2025
Workplace culture never happens by accident. It is a catalytic response to something specific.
The best organisations are those that are very intentional about shaping and directing their culture. They start by crystallising their brand and what it stands for. Once they make that brand promise to the outside world, they look inwards to build a culture that delivers on that promise.
I have seen great cultures get decimated by the wrong leaders making the wrong decisions. As soon as organisational trust is broken internally or externally, it is incredibly hard to rebuild.
That is why every decision an organisation makes regarding how it attracts, engages and retains its people feeds into its culture.
One bad hiring decision can destroy workplace culture. While I believe we can change the world one great leader at a time, we can also tear down organisations one poor hire at a time.
There is an industry adage: hire slow, fire fast. Unfortunately, the biggest mistake companies still make is not addressing the issue of a bad fit or a toxic employee quickly enough. Organisations need to move fast and right the wrong before it destroys mission-critical teams, morale and culture.
It’s important to consider a candidate’s ‘why’ as well as their ‘how’, to define their cultural fit and their impact on the organisation’s direction. You might want someone innovative and unafraid to challenge the status quo and other times, you might be looking for a stabilising, calming force.
Understanding a person’s approach, attitudes and ways of working can shed light on how they solve problems, collaborate and make decisions within an organisation. Equally important is examining their purpose and values to understand why they are motivated to act and behave in specific ways.
Workplace cultures that foster authenticity and vulnerability benefit from more discretionary effort. People will take more calculated but cared-for risks because they feel safe in their environment. They can turn up to work and be their whole selves because they feel like they belong and their contributions are valued.
Poor workplace cultures have people second-guessing themselves, which can lead to inertia: people who are afraid or unempowered to act, who lack clarity over what they can and can’t do, and who have unclear performance expectations. People perform well when they can understand what “doing a good job” looks like and what happens if they do a good – or bad – job.
Everybody in an organisation has the power and potential to shape its culture, but ultimately, it starts at the top. Leaders have the ultimate responsibility for creating and maintaining a positive and productive culture.
When an organisation is formed, one of the foundational tasks is to set its brand, vision and strategy. A good leader needs to understand the enabling culture required to deliver on this vision and strategy, as well as identify the gaps between where the organisation is and where it needs to be.
Recently, I met with two organisations that were looking to merge and also grow the new entity. My first question to them was: “What are your employee engagement scores like?” If an organisation wants to drive growth and diversification assertively, it needs employees who can withstand the pressure and change.
If an organisation has a low engagement score, my advice is to pause, work with your people to improve engagement and culture, then apply pressure when they can handle it. If an organisation has a great culture with high engagement scores, then go for it! Inertia can be the enemy of culture because humans like to feel like they’re growing and being challenged.
Recently, I met with two organisations that were looking to merge and also grow the new entity. My first question to them was: “What are your employee engagement scores like?” If an organisation wants to drive growth and diversification assertively, it needs employees who can withstand the pressure and change.
If an organisation has a low engagement score, my advice is to pause, work with your people to improve engagement and culture, then apply pressure when they can handle it. If an organisation has a great culture with high engagement scores, then go for it! Inertia can be the enemy of culture because humans like to feel like they’re growing and being challenged.
The only way to fix poor culture is to intervene – and it can’t be subtle. An organisation’s leaders need to acknowledge when the culture isn’t good, recognise the impact it has internally and externally, and commit to working with their people to improve.
You can’t do things to people, you have to do things with people. At OnTalent, we favour coaching and supporting leaders to work through these issues with their teams, rather than trying to fix them in isolation.
At OnTalent, we shape our culture by striving to be clear and transparent so that everyone who works here understands what we’re trying to achieve, what we stand for, and what our principles and values are. Culture here is values-led. Our throughline of Connecting People and Purpose is what we hold ourselves accountable to. I lead by example and I ask my other leaders to do the same.
Getting to the truth in an organisation is essential to understanding its culture. Find the most engaged and the least engaged employees and get to that truth organically: what is driving people to perform, not to perform or behave in specific ways?
Leaders have to be prepared to listen and accept the truth as it’s presented. If people think they’re going to face consequences for their feedback, they simply won’t offer it anymore. This is why many feedback mechanisms and employee engagement surveys are anonymous. If someone is brave enough to give feedback with their name on it, then listen and listen closely because they are your truth soldiers.
Take the first step towards intentionally creating the right culture for your organisation with OnTalent.
Recently, I had the privilege of facilitating a series of CEO interviews, a process that never fails to inspire and
As we approach 2025, leadership is evolving at an unprecedented pace. Traditional notions of command-and-control leadership are giving way to
The journey so far… This year Stan (Peter Starling) celebrates 30 years in recruitment, including the past 10 with the
"*" indicates required fields